


Late Night Survival

by YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Eggs Benedict is Michael Afton, Gen, Ghosts, Mentions of Murder, Michael Afton is a Murderous Cinnamon Roll, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Possessed Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's), missing children incident
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-09-18 20:38:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter/pseuds/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter
Summary: Animatronics shouldn’t move when they’re turned off. When it’s night, and the floor is silent, and the music has stopped, there shouldn’t be anything moving. Not the eyes that moved and caught the camera, not the bodies that twisted and turned as if ready to come alive at any moment, and not thesounds,as if someone was singing who had never before heard singing. Animatronics should bedeadwhen they were turned off.It was Mike Schmidt’s sort of luck that the animatronics he was in charge of weren’t dead. Still, he had rent to pay, a job to do, and five nights to figure out just what the mystery was behind Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaria.Really, how bad could it be?





	1. Chapter 1

Mike Schmidt swore under his breath as he fumbled to close one of the doors, heart racing faster than it ever had and body shaking as he realized there was nowhere for him to run from the ‘animatronics’ that were pounding down his door and wanted to be let  _ in _ . Mike felt his entire back, pressed up against the door as if that would keep it in place, tremble as he saw his power tick down lower, and lower, and  _ lower _ -

The alarm signaling that it was six in the morning rang and Mike felt the door under him go still, the man just barely catching his balance as the door retracted to show an empty hallway. The lights throughout the building shuttered on, revealing cute kids drawings and bright colors and stars, and Mike just barely made out Bonnie as he shuffled back to the main area. That was it? Just like that, they just stopped and gave it up? Running to the other side, he peered out the east door and saw that it was empty as well, including the corner he  _ knew _ Chica had been hiding in just moments ago.

A quick look at the monitors showed that everything was fine as it had been when he had first arrived for his new shift. All the animatronics were on stage, Foxy was no doubt hidden behind the curtains of pirate cove, and everything was quiet and still. The clock had ticked over, the lights had come on, and it was like a the curtains had fallen on the ending of a play. He didn’t trust it for a single minute. Checking through each of the cameras, his eyes widened as he saw movement. But- But all four of them were on their stages, so who the hell was coming closer- “Hey there.”

Just barely swallowing down the scream that he felt  _ clawing  _ at his throat, Mike glanced over to see another security guard looking at him with a friendly, if not tired smile. “I… take it you’re the day guard.” The words weren’t the ones he wanted, but they were the only ones that felt safe.

“Andrew Shelby, nice to meet you. So, did they move?” The guard was grinning, as though he were telling a joke. Was… Was that a joke? ‘Did they move?’ “Don’t look so serious! Go get yourself a coffee. God knows I need one, being up this early.”

“Right.” He was grinning as if telling a  _ joke _ . Had Mike just imagined it all? No. There was no way he had imagined that shaking door and those looks that were given to him through the camera. “Right, yeah. Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve pulled a night shift.” He needed out of here. It felt like he was shaking himself to pieces and he needed  _ out _ .

“Yeah, you’re telling me. That’s why I took the job here. My old place, jeez. That place had you running every damn way. Free money though, right? Hey, never got your name.”

“Mike. Mike Schmidt.” Mike gave his best smile, shaking Andrew’s hand. “Sorry for any mess in here, I’ll make sure it’s cleaner tomorrow night.” If he came back.

“No problem, don’t worry about it. I need to take care of some of the opening business before everyone else gets here.”

“Right.” Mike felt like he was going to shake to pieces, but he wasn’t stupid, and he was good at making it seem like everything was going to be alright. “And don’t worry, there was no movement from Freddy and his gang all night. Camera’s out in kitchen, though.”

“Yeah, that old thing’s been out for ages. Don’t worry, though, you can hear loud and clear if a raccoon or something comes in and rattles around,” Andrew waved off, setting his things down and looking to get himself comfortable.

Mike swallowed down his millions of questions, only giving a laugh and a wave. “I’ll keep that in mind. Have a good opening.”

“Thanks, go catch some sleep. You look half-dead!”

“Yeah… Right.” Mike gave one last wave before leaving the building as fast as he could get away, staying far,  _ far  _ away from ‘Freddy’ and all his ‘friends.’ He couldn’t have just imagined all that. He had almost  _ died. _ He needed to find this old night guard and try to get some answers as to what the hell he’d just gone through.

Getting to his car, Mike threw his bag in before getting behind the wheel, taking a few deep breaths and waiting until he was calm enough to actually start the car. Coffee, he decided, could be the first step.  _ Then _ he figured out what the fuck that all had just been.

After a very long morning coffee and breakfast that he picked at more than ate, Mike returned home and immediately started digging around for the newspaper article that had first turned him onto the job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. There it was! Pretty short article- ‘ _ Not responsible for injury/dismemberment?! _ ’ They hadn’t even bothered to hide it! And he’d been desperate enough for a job that he’d fallen for it! He had to get out of this. He had to… Fuck, but his rent was coming  _ really _ soon.

Okay. His rent was due at the end of the week, but that was also when he would get his first paycheck since this place paid weekly, one of the reasons Mike had been so quick to agree. If he could last just five nights at Freddy’s, then he would be able to pay his rent and  _ quit _ . He already survived night one, just four more left to go. He really needed to get some more information about what hell he was putting himself through.

There… He should have the number from the old guard, actually, the one before him. He would know what was happening with all of this. Ahah! He knew he had that number around here! Walking over to his phone, he dialed in the number and stood there waiting for the guy to pick up. When it went to voicemail, Mike found himself huffing and re-dialing the number again. “ _ Hey hey! I, uh… I can’t come to the phone right now! But leave me a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible! Probably. Hopefully. _ ”

“Hey, this is Mike Schmidt, the new night guard at Freddy Fazbear’s! I, uh, had a few questions about the job after my first night. I was hoping you could call me back and answer some of them.” Reciting his number quickly, Mike hung up and frowned down at his phone. He hadn’t liked the sound of that ‘probably’ and ‘hopefully.’ Fuck. Sounded like the only way he was going to figure anything out about this was to go back to Freddy’s.


	2. Chapter 2

“Night two,” Mike muttered to himself. “Right. Maybe last night was just all in my head.” It wouldn’t have been the first time he had fallen asleep while on the job. As the lights shut off around him, Mike settled into his seat as the clock struck over to midnight, and he started up his next ‘training tape.’

“ _ Uhh, Hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats! I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Uhh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know… _ ” 

“You definitely knew something,” Mike muttered, switching over to the cameras anyways. Last night he hadn’t noticed anything until almost three in the morning, but if they were supposed to become more ‘active…’ Alright. Everyone was where they were supposed to be. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Everything… was just… fine.

Except that suddenly one of the animatronics didn’t seem to be looking the way they had been before. Did one of them just move? These weren’t the best cameras, so he could just be imagining it. But… he could have  _ sworn _ that Bonnie never  _ used _ to be staring at him… 

“ _ Uh... Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so, hey, I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power, right? I-I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights. There are blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be right outside of your doors. So if-if you can’t find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights. Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react… _ ”

Oh, this old night guard sure as  _ fuck  _ knew about the animatronics. Mike hadn’t gone to sleep and imagined everything. These things were trying to kill him! Fuck, okay, he just- He just needed to get through this night. Easy. He needed to watch the cameras, keep an eye on the blind spots, and shut the doors when something got close. That was easy enough.

“ _ Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that. Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know. Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon. _ ”

Pirate Cove? He hadn’t seen anyone in Pirate Cove last-  _ Jesus fuck! _ He was fucked! Who the fuck was that?!  _ What  _ the fuck was that?! He knew about ‘Foxy,’ but  _ jesus fucking christ _ ! How was he supposed to deal- He heard something. Flipping through the cameras, Mike quickly scanned them, trying to find what he had heard echoing down the halls.

Seeing Bonnie already in the dining hall, Mike felt all the blood rush away from his face as his heart pounded. Already? It wasn’t even one, yet, why was Bonnie already on the move?! Okay, okay, he needed to keep his calm. If he panicked and shut the door, that would take up battery he really didn’t need it to be taking up.

He just needed to wait until Bonnie got closer and… where was Chica? It was  _ early  _ should they really all be moving around like this? He was going to die. Oh, god, Mike was going to  _ die _ . Right, fuck, right, he needed to be checking on Foxy more. Fuck, this was so fucked. This wasn’t a job, this was a  _ suicide mission! _ Why the fuck was this place even open?!

Foxy looked like he was about to fucking  _ run _ and Mike had a feeling he knew right where Foxy would run to and  _ fuck  _ this was so  _ fucked _ . Okay. Okay, he just needed to… Where was Bonnie? Flicking the cameras, Mike screamed when he saw Foxy running down the hall towards him and shot towards the door switch, thanking his lucky stars and every power there was in the damned world that  _ he was safe. _ He had managed to close the door in time and Foxy hadn’t gotten him.

The noises outside the door, though, had him backing away, shoulders shaking as he realized that there was a very,  _ very  _ strong chance that he was going to die that night. When the noises went away, he turned on the light and held his breath. Rather than shining through to the office brightly, something was blocking it, and he decided he’d rather not open the door and find out what - or who - was there.

Collapsing back in his seat for a moment, Mike scrubbed at his eyes before turning to look at the cameras again. If nothing else, he at least had something to keep him awake for the night, he guessed.

* * *

An alarm sounded from the clock, the lights flickered on, the noises stopped, and the animatronics retreated back to their stages. It was the same as last night. It was like clockwork. Slumping back in his seat, Mike sighed. He was going to develop heart problems if he kept at this the way he was. Hearing footsteps, he flicked the cameras. That Andrew guy.

He had asked if they moved yesterday… Was he in on it? Was he someone who was just there to scout out and make sure the ‘new guy’ wouldn’t go talking about anything? He wasn't sure what to make of him. "Hey, someone looks more awake this time!"

“Took your advice about the coffee,” Mike joked, feeling uneasy as he smiled at Andrew. “Not sure who has the worst shift, me or you.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, brag about it. You’ll get used to it. Just gotta get into the swing, you know? Same thing every week.” The fucker definitely knew.

Standing up from the chair, and trying to appear like he  _ hadn’t  _ just almost died, Mike cleared his throat, “Hey, do you know how to get in touch with the guy who worked here before me? I had a couple questions and I don’t think he’s been checking his messages on his phone.”

“Oh, him? All we can give you is his phone number. Can you believe the guy walked out on the job?”

“He didn’t give any kind of warning?” Or had he given one and no one had listened to him? “Seems weird. It isn’t that bad to work here at night.” Mike watched carefully for a reaction. A smirk, a look of surprise,  _ anything _ . Andrew turned away from him, but Mike  _ saw. _ He saw that twitch of the lips.

“Yeah. I came in to relieve him, and he wasn’t here. I looked around everywhere too, maybe he had to hit the can, or was checking something out. He wasn’t anywhere.” 

“What an asshole,” Mike forced a laugh. “Alright, then, I’ll clock out and head out, then. Let me know if anything happens, I guess.”

“No prob. Go get some sleep.”

“Will do. Have a good shift.” Mike headed out and immediately decided that he needed to get in touch with the last guard  _ immediately _ . If this night was bad, he couldn’t imagine how the third night was going to go.

Getting home and immediately heading to start a pot of coffee, Mike looked around until he found his phone book. It was time to end this. What was the name of the guy before him, anyway? Had he ever even gotten that much? Shuffling a few papers around, he found the note. ‘Steven Smith.’ Normal enough name, at least.

Looking through the book, Mike sighed as he saw there were a lot Smiths. This, he had a feeling, was going to take a while. At least he’d have his coffee, though.

When he finally found the Steven Smith that matched up to the phone number he had, he looked at the address and nodded. That wasn’t too far. He could walk there and make it in about a half an hour. Assuming the guy was home. If it was Mike, he probably wouldn’t leave his place for a month after that job.

Right. He’d take a short nap, if he could even manage that much, grab some coffee to go, and find out what the  _ fuck  _ was up with the place he now worked. Actually, forget the nap, he’d just have nightmares.

A quick to-go thermos and he was out the door and, with his quick pace, in front of Steven Smith’s house before he fully realized it, knocking on the door enough to let whoever was there know it was urgent. Hearing no answer, he frowned and pounded on the door again, peering through the window. No car in the driveway, either. Lights were all off… Something wasn’t right, here.

Maybe going around to the back would show a light left on or an open window that showed someone was home or  _ something _ . Mike debated before finally doing it, deciding that the police likely wouldn’t be called if only because he was still dressed in his guard uniform. The windows were all closed up, curtains were drawn and it seemed like there wasn’t a single light shining through the curtains. That, more than anything, was suspicious. He would get going off the grid, but this was a bit much.

Climbing up a set of stairs to the back door, Mike knocked, calling out a loud, “Steven? Steven Smith? I’m here about your last security job!” No answer… Alright, Mike was officially classifying this as a bad feeling. Would he get in trouble for breaking and entering?

Screw it, he had just almost been killed by possessed machines with animals faces, he’d face the cops if they were called, but breaking in was the least of his worries right now. He’d done this as a teenager often enough. Pulling out a couple of his emergency tools, he only took a minute to jimmy the lock and open the door up. “Don’t shoot… I’m human.”

There was no sounds, no running or screaming, no movement, no  _ anything _ . It was a silent as a graveyard at night. It was unsettling. Mike tried again, calling out a careful, “Hello? Steven Smith?” Touching a hand to the coffee pot, he frowned. Cold. Hadn’t been made anytime recently. This wasn’t good… Had the guy gone and skipped town?

“Uh, if you’re still here, I’m gonna look around a bit! Don’t shoot me!” It didn’t seem like he had just moved. The entire house seemed as if it was just waiting for the guy to come home. But if he had walked out on the job just a few days ago… Where was he now?

Mike didn’t have a good feeling about any of this. It all seemed… too much of a cover up, almost. Andrew said they skipped town, but Mike was starting to doubt that, now. If he came in to relieve the last night guard… On a Friday… When they were the most active… Oh no.

Fuck, forget  _ Steven _ , it was  _ Mike  _ who needed to get the hell out of town. He needed… His rent was really,  _ really  _ close to being due. Oh, fuck, jesus,  _ god _ , was he really thinking about  _ dying  _ to pay his  _ rent _ ? Well… He supposed that was one thing. If he survived, he paid his rent. If he didn’t… Well, he wouldn’t have to worry about his rent anyway.

Screw it, why the fuck not. At least he had time to prepare tonight. There had to be something he could do to get more power into the room, at least. He just had to reason it out. Simple enough. And he needed to look more into Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.

Okay. Sleep first,  _ then  _ research into surviving his new job. If he did this right, he would survive and manage to pay rent.

* * *

Okay. Right. He needed to find something. Maybe he could check some of the local papers? That was a good place to start. See if any of this bullshit made it into the news. If they were  _ possessed _ , then something would have had to crop up eventually, right? The place had only been open for ten or so years at most… Maybe. Mike actually wasn’t sure when they had opened. Walking to the local library, Mike got to the circulation desk and grinned. “Hey there. Do you know where I can find some information on that Freddy’s kids diner?”

The librarian stared at him, slowly raising her eyebrows before shaking her head and gesturing towards a corner. “Try the local newspapers, hun.”

“Thanks. I like to look into the places I work at.” He made his way to the corner she’d pointed out. Alright. Maybe he needed to see about any disappearances last week. Someone would have had to have reported a missing person, right?

If nothing else, there should be a few things that he could at least look into, starting with Steven Smith himself. Amazing. Nowhere was there a mention of a missing ‘Steven Smith.’ But… Well. Who would be looking for a single guy, living by himself?

It would be the same if Mike himself were to just up and… disappear…  _ Fuck _ . He wasn’t hired because they were desperate and he had experience. He was hired because if he went missing, no one would even  _ notice _ . It was like they were fucking  _ sacrificing people _ . All he needed to do was last the fucking week. Just three more nights. That couldn’t be so hard.


	3. Chapter 3

Mike smirked down at the fan that was no longer plugged in and sucking up power, the screens all off and only ready to be turned on to check Pirate Cove. “There we go. Just gotta listen and it will all be fine.”

As the clock struck midnight, everything shut down again, but this time Mike was  _ ready. _ Everyone was up on their stages, no one was moving, and he just needed to check Pirate Cove, and occasionally the main stage to see who he was up against. He hadn’t seen Freddy do anything… maybe he was a non-threat.

“ _ Hello, hello? _ ”

Narrowing his eyes, Mike stared at the tape recorder. “What happened to you, Steve?” He had just… vanished. These tapes were obviously pre-recorded, so… maybe there was a clue?

“ _ Hey you're doing great! Most people don’t last this long. I mean, you know, they usually move on to other things by now. I'm not implying that they died. Th-th-that’s not what I meant. Uh, anyway I better not take up too much of your time. Things start getting real tonight. _ ” 

“ _ Start  _ getting real?” Mike looked away to stare at the fan, fear hitting him heavy and hard as he realized that the last two nights must have been just  _ play time  _ for these creatures.

“ _ Uh... Hey, listen, I had an idea: if you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh, try playing dead! You know, go limp. Then there's a chance that, uh, maybe they’ll think that you're an empty costume instead. Then again if they think you're an empty costume, they might try to... stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work. Yeah, never mind, scratch that. It's best just not to get caught. _ ” He really was actually going to die. He was so fucked.

He was going to die and be stuffed inside- Wait. Is that what happened to the last guy? Is that what happened to Steven? Had he been… Oh, god, was rent really worth this? He had a feeling rent wasn’t really worth this. 

“ _ Um… Okay, I’ll leave you to it. See you on the flip side. _ ”

Right. Right, okay. Foxy was… Oh boy, Foxy was a starting to look out at him. “Hey, buddy,” Mike murmured. “You stay right there…” Mike would swear, with everything in him, that the goddamn fox had just  _ grinned _ . “Fucker.”

Okay, Foxy wasn’t moving, for now, so he could at least glance at the other three- Two. The other  _ two  _ on stage. Bonnie was still up there, and so was Freddy, but Chica was already gone. How was she gone that fast?! The night had only just started!

Mike took a steady breath and checked the hallways quickly. He didn’t see anything coming, and he didn’t want to waste power flicking through cameras. From what he’d noticed so far, Chica only came on the right, and Bonnie only came on the left. So that made this just a little easier for him. He just needed to keep his cool. He just needed to stay calm, take a few deep breaths, and keep an eye on Foxy. Everything was going to be alright. He wouldn’t turn out the same as Steven. Alright. Bonnie was out. That was fine. No reason to panic. He just needed to check the door lights and… Where was Freddy?

Freddy was supposed to be on the stage, still, but he wasn’t, so  _ where was Freddy _ ? Fuck, fuck,  _ fuck _ \- Okay. Okay, he just needed to keep calm, take a few deep breaths- There was something in the hallway. Slamming the door shut, Mike heard one of Foxy’s sea shanties drifting down the hall. He was so fucked.

::

The power around him cut out, the lights went dark, and Mike held his breath. He was fucked, he was so  _ fucked.  _ There, from down the hall, Mike heard one of those old songs, the one that came from Freddy, it seemed. It was supposed to be a ‘fun’ song, but to Mike, it sounded like a death march. Looking over, Mike stared with wide eyes, seeing Freddy’s eyes flashing at him. It was almost six, just a little longer, he just needed to last a little longer. The song ended itself abruptly and Mike could only listen to his breathing, and the sound of Freddy’s footsteps coming closer. He was dead, he-

The alarm clock began to ring and the lights flickered on to show the briefest glimpse of Freddy leaving down the hallway he had come from. Mike felt himself slump in the chair, sucking in a shuddering breath as he gripped his chest. Was three night’s pay enough for rent? “Hey, guy… Everything alright in here?”

“Fuckin’ fantastic.” Mike slumped in the chair even more, feeling like his heart was about to stop beating altogether. Jesus fuck there was no way the day guard hadn’t at least  _ seen  _ Freddy.

“Hey, you look pretty beat. Head on home. Get some sleep.” Andrew, Mike decided, was going to be the first one he killed when he snapped from all the mental stress he was under. Hell, who knew, maybe all these things were already hallucinations.

“Right. Sure. Thanks- Hey, when were these tapes recorded? The ones I hear every night?”

“Last week, actually. He planned on leaving anyway and thought those were gonna be helpful, but didn’t stay through his two weeks.”

“Thanks.” Huh. Actually helpful for once. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.” Mike grabbed his bag and gave a last goodbye before rushing out the door. It felt like he hadn’t slept in years with the way his body moved, but he had survived. The tapes were there, too… Could Mike steal those tomorrow night and then use them as proof that something had happened? Hm… He could almost definitely do something like that. He couldn’t just let this all go. This wasn’t right. They couldn’t just keep feeding these people to these robots on a silver platter. Something was going on here. He needed to find out what. 

Instead of heading straight outside, Mike took a detour in the main room, hesitating in his steps as he stared up at the still and silent animatronics on stage. They looked like any other animatronic across the country. Gaudy, large, and a safety risk to everyone involved, but they didn’t look like possessed monsters out for  _ flesh _ . Their eyes seemed to follow him, but they didn’t even twitch or make a move towards him. Something… Something happened here. Something maybe even before the old night guard. He just needed to keep looking through those newspapers. 

Turning to leave, Mike glanced back, feeling like an idiot even as he called out a quiet, “I’m not here to hurt you or anything, you know.” Somehow, he had a feeling they wouldn’t go any easier on him. That was fine. If he did this right, he wouldn’t have to worry about them for much longer. First, though, he needed to find out what had happened  _ before  _ Steven Smith.

::

Alright, so maybe he needed to just start at the beginning when the place first opened, Mike thought to himself. There had to be something to clue him in to  _ when  _ exactly all of this started. Okay, so this new place opened in '90 after they went through some kind of remodel, or something. So he just needed to look at newspapers from then to now. That wasn’t too hard. The library looked like they at least kept one copy of every paper they could, so that was  _ really  _ helpful.

Gathering the first stack, Mike found a table, set down his thermos full of coffee, and resigned himself to not getting any sleep for a very long time. Huh… So far, nothing really noteworthy. In fact the only thing he noticed was they put out ads for a new night guard pretty often. Very often, actually. Just going by ads, they had to have a new night guard every other  _ week _ . There was no talk about missing children, though, or at least, none that he could see.

Then again, he was pretty sure Freddy Fazbear’s had more than one location. Maybe it was something that happened at another location to cause all of this. But that wouldn't be in any local paper… He needed to dig deeper. He needed to know what was going on, but that meant talking to someone like  _ Andrew _ , and that… meant surviving another night.

Fuck, his landlord had better fucking appreciate the shit he went through to pay his rent on time the  _ asshole _ .


End file.
